Stkaw-ctjtter



c. s. GAYLORD'.

Straw Cutter.

N0, 3,331. Pafented Nov. 6, 1843.

. front View of the gate or frame in which the knife is fastened; Fig.3, an iron whichis secured to-the back of thegate aforesaid Fig. 1

* Uinrnn srnrns PATENT QFFIQE.

GH S. S. GAYLORD, OE GAYLORDSX BRIDGE, CONNECTICUT.

STRAW-CUTTEB.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 3,3315, dated November 6,. 1.843.

Zb-aZZ whom it may concern .1

Be it known that I; CHARLES S. GAYLORD,

of Gaylords Bridge,.in the town: of New Milford, county of Litclifield,and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and useful Improvement onMachines for Cutting Hay, Straw and Stalks; and I dohereby declare thatthe. following is a full and exact description of the; construction andoperation of the same, reference being had to. the

making a. part of this annexed drawings, specification, 1n wh1ch- Figure131s. a perspective YlQW; Fig. 2, a

a, a board belonging in said gate called a gage board; Fig. 5, the knifewith the screw bolts which hold or fasten it to the gate;

Fig. 6, the ferrule which surrounds the lower one of the said screwbolts; Fig. 7 a view of the mouth of the box, including the iron againstwhich the knife cuts.

The aforesaid machine is composed of four post-s, two girts, two ties,two foot pieces, three boards for abox, a knife, and a gate, (so called)towhich the knife is attached, three screw bolts and other irons withwhich to confine the knife, a gage board to regulate the length of feedor substance being out, andironsto confine said gage board in the gate.

See the drawings, Fig. l, a, a, the head posts; 6,1), the foot posts; a,c, the girt-s which connect the head and foot posts; d, the tie whichcouples. the head posts; (Z, (Z, the tie which couples the foot. posts;c, e, the feet of the machine; f, f, the boards which. form the sides ofthe box; 9, g, the bottom board of the box; it, it, the uprights orstiles of the gate; 2', 2', i, the ties of the gate; 7', the panel ofthe gate; is, the knife; Z, the iron, which confines the knifeat thepoint; m, the handle by which the gate is moved; n, a brace whichsupports the head posts.

Fig. 2 shows a front View of the gate or frame in which the knife isfastened; h, it, the stiles or uprights ofthe gate; i, z, the ties ofthe gate; j, the panel of the gate; is, the knife; Z, the iron whichconfines the knife. at the point; 0, the gage board which regulates thefeed;p, p, p, the screw bolts which confine the knife; q, the iron whichconfines the gage board at the upper end; r, 1-, iron which is rivetedon to the gage lboard; s; a button. which confinesthe lower Fend of gageboard. i

Fig. 3, an, iron. which confines the knife lat its point and also thegage board atits upper end Z the main body of the iron 9, g Y thelegs-of said, iron with notches.

Fig. at, a separate View of the gage board. 1 0 themain board. r, 17 aniron riveted on to its upper end. 8 a button which confines its lowerend.

Fig. 5, a separate View, of the knife with its screw bolts. 7c theknife. 6, t, t the i screw bolts.

Fig. 6, the ferrule which surrounds the j lower screw bolt. Fig. 7, themouth of the box and iron ;which confines the feed or substances being}cut. f, f, the side boards ofthe box. 9, g the, bottom board. cl, (Zthe tie which couples the headposts. a u, u the iron which confines thefeed and protects the mouth of the box.

; hard timber such as oak, ash, or maple. The ihead-posts (a d, F ig. 1,are four inches wide 1 and one and three fourths thick. The inner postis three ft. and the outer one three ft. f and a half long. 5 with a tieand foot piece so as to stand nine finches and three fourths apart. Theouter ipost being six inches longer than the inner onean inclination isthereby given to the machine of about forty degrees more or less. jThetie (Z, is four inches wide and one and ithree fourths inches thick; andis framed into the posts twelve inches from the top; and falls back fromthe face of the posts two and one quarter inches. The foot piece 6, 1,for these posts is three feet long, four inches wide, and one and threefourths thick; and is framed on to the lower end of the posts in such away as to allow it to projgect most on that side toward which the postsincline; so that the weight of the ma chine shall stand over the centerof the foot piece. The head posts are channeled or wide and is composedof two. upright pieces grooved so asto admit a frame, or gate; to

The aforesaid machine is made of strong These are framed together 71.,71., h, h, three ties 2, 2', 2', a panel 7', and a gage board. Thestiles of the gate h, /z, h, h, are thirty-three inches long and one anda half, by one and a quarter inches square. The upper tie 2', is one anda half inches thick by two and a half inches wide; and is framed intothe gate three fourths of an inch from the top. The middle tie 2', isone and a half inches thick by two and a half in. wide; and is framedinto the stiles eight and one fourth in. from the top. Between the tiesis a panel j five and a half in. wide which just fills the space and iskept in its place by tenoning the ends and inserting them in grooves inthe stiles. On the back of this panel is attached a handle m, for theconvenience of the operator in moving the gate. The lower tie 2', is oneand one half inches square and is framed into the stiles twentynine anda half inches from the top. The three ties 2' 2' 2' and panel j are eacheight inches long between shoulders and each have tenons one half of aninch thick. The knife is, is made so that the outlines form nearly anequilateral triangle; or in other words it is a thin flat piece of metalabout three eighths of an inch thick whose outline or edges forms nearlyan equilateral triangle; and two of said edges are cutting edges.However experiment suggests the following deviation. Let the two lineswhich describe the cut-ting edges of the knife be nine inches long andthe other line be eight inches long. Also let the two longest lines eachcurve outward one fourth of an inch, or thereabout between the pointswhere they intersect each other; and where they intersect the shortestline. The two longest lines form or describe the cutting edges; andtheir junction forms the lower point of the knife which pierces thestraw in or near the middle of the volume; and divides it so that eachedge of the knife cuts about one half of the volume. The shortest lineof the triangle aforesaid, forms the upper edge of the knife; which isnot a cutting edge. The knife can be made of steel altogether; or ofiron and steel conjoined. A suitable thickness is about threesixteent-hs of an inch; or one fourth of an inch. WVhen complete theknife is a plate of metal about three sixteenths of an in. thick; ofnearly a uniform thickness; and of the shape aforesaid; having itsface-side ground to a level or flat surface and its back side beveledoff, so as to form a suitable edge for cutting, straw, hay, and stalks.The knife is aflixed to the middle tie of the gate by cutting, andscrewing, it, into the tie, to the extent of its thickness; so that theknife will face with the tie; and also with the panel and other ties;and so that the point of the knife will stand equidistant from eachupright of the gate. The knife is kept in its place by three screw bolts72, 79, 7), Fig. 1. The holes for these bolt-s are countersunk;

so that the heads of the bolts, will face with the knife. The two upperbolts pass through the knife and middle tie and are confined by a nut onthe backside of the tie. The lower bolt passes through the knife and apiece of iron screwed on the back side of the gate Z, Figs. 1, 2, and 3.This iron Z, is one inch wide, nine and a half long, and one fourth ofan inch thick, with a hole in the middle for the lower bolt. It (theiron Z,) has two projecting parts or legs; which rise at right angleswith its inner side; three fourths of an inch from each end. Theprojecting parts or legs q, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, are for the purpose ofholding the upper end of the gage board in the desired place. These legshave each three or four notches by means of which the gage board 0. 0.Figs. 2 and 4, may be confined at any desired distance from the knife;which distance determines the length of feed. The lower bolt passesthrough the knife and the iron Z, aforesaid and is confined by a nut onthe back of Z.

The space between the knife and the aforesaid iron is occupied by aferrule or ring, Fig. 6, which surrounds the lower bolt and is just longenough to permit the point of the knife to stand even with the face ofthe gate, Fig. 2. This ferrule or ring maybe round or square as in Fig.6. The gage board 0, 0, Figs. 2 and l, has a piece of strap iron rivetedon to its upper end which fits into the notches of the legs 9, Q, Figs.1, 2, and 3, of the iron Z. This strap or iron 2 2, Figs. 2 and tconfines the upper end of the gage board while the lower end is confinedby means of a button or slide 8, .9 Figs. 2 and 1, which falls in tonotches in the lower tie as at 2), Figs. 1 and 2. These notches orgrooves are corresponding with those in the iron above at The gage boardafore mentioned occupies the entire space superficially between the ironZ, and the lower tie 2', Figs. 1 and 2, and is used for the purpose ofregulating the length of the feed or substances being cut. This is doneby setting the board in one or other of the notches at g, r and at 2'.

The remainder of the machine is not yet described is constituted of abox for holdin the straw or other substances and an iron adapted to themouth of the box along the side of which iron the knife slides and cuts.The box is composed of the posts, 'irts, tie, boards, and foot piece,before mentioned. The posts 6, Z), Fig. 1 are of the same length andthickness as those before described but are only two and a half incheswide. The foot piece 6, is the same thickness and width as the posts andthree feet long. The tie (Z, (Z, the same thickness and width and nineand three fourths in. long between shoulders, and is framed in seven in.from the top of the posts. The outer post is six inches longer than. theinner one so as to give the same inclination as the head posts have-vizabout forty degrees more or less.

The girts which connect the head posts and foot posts are three. feetlong between shoulders c, 0, and are two and a half inches wide and oneand three fourths thick, and are framed in to the posts two feet and ahalf from the top. a The boards which form the box for holding the straware four feet long and five eighths of an inch thick. The bottom board9, 9, Figs. 1 and 7 is nine and three fourths of an in. wide from end toend, and has one end on the tie to the head post and the other end onthe tie to the foot post. The side boards f, f, are each six inches wideat one end and seven at the other, the widest end going forward. Theboards are confined by screwing them on to the posts. Between the sideboards and the head posts are blocks of wood about one and three eighthsof an inch thick so as to contract the mouth of the box. The mouth ofthe box, Fig. 7, is about seven inches wide and six and a half high.

Across the ends of the side boards f, f, Fig.

1 and over the mouth of the box is a board w Fig. 1 six or eight incheswide and set inclining downward toward the knife a little for thepurpose of compressing the straw as it passes into to the mouth of thebox, and also; of guarding the hand of the operator from the knife. Onto the tie (Z. Fig. 7 which connects the head posts, and on to theblocks which are between the ends of the side boards and head posts isfastened the iron u, u, at Fig. 7 by means of screws.

This iron secures the mouth of the box from friction and confines thestraw or other substances; and forms a. durable even surface for theface of the knife to slide against. This iron is so shaped as to coverthe ends of the side boards f, f, Fig. 7 and the end of the bottom boardg, g. It may be about three fourths of an inch wide and one fourththick. The outer edges are thinner than the inner ones which gives abevel and enables the builder to face it up to the knife with littlelabor. hen the machine is set up this iron is so fastened that the knifeplays as near as possible to it; with-.

out touching. This iron, and the iron be fore described, on the back ofthe gate may be of cast metal.

It is not absolutely necessary that the ma chine should be of theprecise dimensions before specified; but these dimensions, are found toaccord with. the strength, and

length of limb of men in general. Nor is it absolutely necessary thatthe knife should be just the shape described, but its outlines maydescribe precisely an equilateral triangle thus or they may describe anacute angled isosceles triangle thus;

or they may be lancet shaped thus:

and having their centers filled with wood. It is not absolutelynecessary that the knife on its face be ground to a true level surface;but may be left so that its face, would be in respect to its shape, asegment of a large circle; or slightly oval; either. The posts of themachine may be also inclined more or less as the proprietor may desire.

This inclination is made so as to accord with the natural movements ofthe operators arm. A gate is not necessary to put the knife aforesaid inmotion but it may be attached to a wheel either perpendicular orhorizontal. If attached to a wheel it would be advisable to make oneedge of the knife convex and the other concave and yet maintain theshape in some measure before described, thus r I do not claim to be theinventor of the machine used for cutting hay straw and stalks, but whatI claim as my invention in this machine, and desire to secure by LettersPatent is The form of the knife herein described as applied to thepurpose of cutting hay straw and stalks, it being so shapedas to dividetheir volume and their resistance when cut,

by presenting, and securing, for these purposes; the action of twocutting edges at the same time.

CHARLES S. GAYLORD. l/Vitnesses:

ABNER Gr. HUNGERF RD, A. D. SMITH.

